Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi

I enjoyed this read. I ordered it for my Book of the Month, not having heard of it before, or the author. The underlying messages would be: "People are not always what they seem" and "You don't know anyone as well as you think you do." Sona is 23 years old, unmarried, and a nurse at a hospital in Bombay. She is half Indian and half British in the 1930's when India is seeking their independence from Britain. She is a half-caste and referred to as a Chee-Chee or a Blackie-White, which are derogatory labels. A famous and talented artist, Mira Novak, arrives at the hospital as a result of a miscarriage. She is in a lot of pain, which is treated with morphine. Sona connects with her instantly. She loves how friendly and full of life she is. Mira tells Sona about her life and the people who are important to her. The one person she doesn't talk a lot about is her husband, Filip, who is rarely at the hospital and when he is, seems very distant.

As Sona is drawn into Mira's life, in six short days, she is suddenly given a huge responsibility to deliver paintings to the people Mira has said she values the most. She has designated a painting to be delivered to Petra Hitzig in Prague, a fellow painter who was mentored by Mira; a painting to Josephine Benoit in Paris, who used to represent Mira (sell her paintings); and a third painting to Paolo Puccini in Florence, another painter that Mira loved. Sona lived with her mother and has led a sheltered life, protected by her mother. Sona's father left them when Sona was three years old to go back to his family in Britain, which Sona's mother didn't know about! It's a traumatic event that stays with Sona into adulthood. So Sona is ill-equipped to take this journey on her own. Fortunately, she had developed a relationship (paternal in nature) with an older gentleman, a retired doctor, who she was talking care of at the hospital. He stepped in to support her in her journey, with his presence, financial assistance and moral support.

Sona learns a lot in her travels. The first important lesson was that she couldn't necessarily trust strangers that she meets. She also discovered that the relationships that Mira shared with her were not as they were presented to her. Thirdly, she learned that people make mistakes; they hurt each other; and they lack courage when asking for forgiveness from the injured parties. She also fell in love. It was like a coming of age story for someone finally growing up in her 20s.

Wendy's Rating: ****